Averaging out the total number of serious crimes in 1960, we discovered that each day of the year an estimated 25 persons were feloniously killed; 356 suffered an aggravated assault; 43 were forcibly raped; 243 robberies, 2,243 burglaries, and 1,298 larcenies over $50 occurred; and 878 motor vehicles were stolen. These figures reveal an average of 5,086 serious crimes were committed in the United States each day in 1960.

FACTORS AFFECTING CRIME TREND

The ultimate weapon in the fight against crime is the American citizen. In military parlance, law enforcement agencies are operating in the field of combat without the benefit of support troops. Their supply lines, especially, are thin and inadequate, for the American people are not "passing the ammunition" in the form of information about illegal operations.

I dare say that at this very moment there are literally hundreds of thousands of Americans who possess vital information about various criminal activities, which, if placed in the hands of law enforcement officers, could start an offensive against the lawless hordes that would result in a complete rout of the forces of crime.

I do not mean to imply that Americans fail to cooperate with law enforcement officers in the investigation of such serious crimes as murder, rape, and robbery-most of them do. But when it comes to those offenses which support organized crime and breed the murderer, the rapist, and the robber, the vast majority of Americans turn their heads, apparently feeling that illegal gambling, prostitution, the sale of narcotics and obscene material, and other such vices do not affect them and are none of their business.

The overlords of organized crime could be dealt, I believe, a death blow if citizens would stop trading with the bookie, the prostitute, the drugpusher, and other "salesmen" of the criminal empire. The pennies, nickels, dimes, and dollars funneled into the underworld bankrolls provide the means for the hoodlums and racketeers to spread graft and corruption throughout the Nation. Too, the customers of organized crime, desperate for funds, often turn to robbery, burglary, or other such crimes.

ASSAULTS ON LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS

I would like to say just a few words about assaults on police officers. Vicious, sadistic attacks on law enforcement officers are increasing daily, and the tragic fact is that many of these attacks are carried out in the very presence of disinterested citizens-men and women who had neither the courage to interfere nor the sense of duty to summon assistance. Statistics collected by the FBI disclose that 6 of every 100 police officers were the victims of physical assaults during 1960. All too often the margin between serious injury and death is much too thin. There is no way of determining how many of the officers assaulted escaped death by a hairbreadth. To me, the most alarming thing about these atrocious assaults is the complete indifference of so-called "decent" members of society and the lack of any feeling of civic responsibility to combat this growing evil.

I am fully aware that there are dishonest members in the law. enforcement profession. The same is true in every other profession.

I

say this not as an excuse but as a statement of fact. Any officer who accepts bribes, protects hoodlums, lies, steals, or in any way either actively or passively engages in illicit activities or improperly uses his authority, generates a feeling of suspicion which is directed against the entire law enforcement profession.

I would like to say something off the record.

(Off the record.)

Mr. HOOVER. Inadequate pay in many areas still is a bar to the recruitment of the best qualified personnel at the local level, but in spite of this and other hardships, law enforcement agencies have progressed to the point where the American people, I feel, can and should take great pride in them and provide the support they need and deserve. Certainly, an alert interest in local affairs by honest citizens can prevent the hoodlums and their political supporters from gaining control.

YOUTHFUL CRIMINALITY

The expanding scope of youthful criminality in the United States is one of the most disheartening things that I can think of today. The frequency and viciousness of the criminal acts being committed by our young people, already alarming, are speeding toward certain tragedy unless the current trend is some way arrested.

We are allowing a group of disrespectful young people who have no sense of moral responsibility to develop into hardened criminals. This is true because these children are being allowed to just grow up, rather than receiving proper home training. They are being neglected and denied the love, care, and guidance in the home necessary to proper development as good, law-abiding citizens.

I realize, of course, that this is a damning indictment of many parents, but in case after case of vicious crimes committed by young people which I have studied, there has been gross parental neglect of the children. A recent poll among teenagers throughout the Nation revealed that 50 percent of them held parents responsible for their delinquent children. This poll was conducted by Purdue University and published in October 1961.

This same poll, however, brought out some disturbing opinions with respect to the handling of young lawbreakers. Forty-eight percent of the youths believed that youthful offenders should not be sent to correctional institutions, but should remain in the community for rehabilitation. Even a more alarming fact is that 28 percent advocated nothing more than a serious lecture following the first two offenses, with confinement after a third offense. This is an attitude so prevalent among the young hoodlums arrested by police regardless of the seriousness of their crime. They seem to feel that their tender age entitles them to special treatment.

This belief was not born in the young minds of our children. It was planted there by those misguided sentimentalists who contend that society must protect a juvenile, no matter what he does wrong. The continued use of the pampering phrase, "juvenile delinquency, to describe all illegal acts committed by young people also contributes to this belief. There must be a line drawn between the mischievous pranks of the young people, which may indeed be called juvenile delinquency, and the depraved deeds of teenage thugs who rob, rape,

and kill. These acts, I feel, should be labeled for exactly what they are, which is "youthful criminality".

I am a firm believer in fitting the punishment to the crime. To excuse a willful murder, rape, or robbery committed by a young man, merely because he has not reached his 18th birthday, defies all sane logic. Such action can only encourage greater disrespect for law and order.

There are other great and serious causes of the moral decay which is taking place among the children of our Nation. I speak of those depraved individuals who seek out our young people of this country as customers for all forms of obscene material, narcotics, and intoxicating beverages. Many of the crimes of violence committed by juveniles result from the use of drugs or intoxicants or exposure to obscene movies or literature.

Even the various entertainment media must share their part of the blame for the weakening of the morals of our young people. Many movies, television shows, and theatrical productions have overstepped the bounds of decency. Likewise, these media have flooded the land with scenes of violence which cannot avoid affecting young minds.

How serious is the crime problem among our young people? Statistics for the calendar year 1960 give the answer. Throughout our Nation, arrests of youths under 18 increased 9 percent over 1959, and represented 14 percent of all arrests made in the United States. They accounted for 61 percent of arrests for automobile theft, 49 percent for burglary, 47 percent for larcenies, 26 percent for robberies, 18 percent for forcible rape, 11 percent for aggravated assault, and 7 percent for murder. Girls under 18 contributed greatly to the increase of juvenile arrests, with a rise over 1959 of 14 percent.

Perhaps even more startling is the 20-year trend in the arrests of juveniles. During this period, total police arrests were up 61 percent and while adult arrests increased 53 percent; juveniles nearly doubled the adult percentage rise. This chart shows arrest trends from 1940 to 1960.

Mr. ROONEY. Without objection, we shall insert this exhibit at this point in the record.

(The exhibit referred to appears on following page.)

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કું

Mr. HOOVER. It is most disheartening to view the arrest picture of juveniles for the 5-year period from 1955 through 1960. During this 5-year interval we find that the population of persons between 10 and 17 years of age increased 25 percent, while arrests by city police for serious criminal code offenses surged 48 percent. Some of the types of criminal activity contributing to this increase were a 105-percent rise in arrests for buying, selling, and receiving stolen property; 65 percent for driving while intoxicated; 49 percent for robbery; and 41 percent for sex offenses.

This chart graphically shows the percentage increase in arrests for 16 offenses which average out to a 48-percent rise over the past 5 years.

Mr. ROONEY. Very well.

(The exhibit referred to appears on following page.)

Mr. HOOVER. During the year 1960, there was one reported arrest for every 26 youths between the ages of 10 and 17, and arrests for young people in cities were recorded at a rate three times that for rural areas.

While it is true that youthful criminality is a matter of vital concern to all of us, it would not be fair to overlook the fact that the vast majority of our Nation's youth are upright, law-abiding citizens. We, of course, cannot permit the unlawful acts of a few, a small percentage of our youthful population to unduly influence our thinking to the point where it results in an indictment of an entire segment of our society. There is presented, however, a real challenge to our democratic system to materially reduce the incidence of youthful criminality in our country.

PAROLE, PROBATION AND CLEMENCY ABUSES

Nothing can be more discouraging and disheartening to a law enforcement officer than to see some criminal he has risked his life to capture set free through unwarranted leniency in the form of a suspended sentence, parole, or probation.

I fully realize the worth and necessity of rehabilitation efforts, and I stand firmly behind the principles of parole, probation, and other forms of clemency. But I have seen too much abuse and maladministration of these systems and too many instances where little or no consideration was given to the need of protecting society by isolating depraved individuals. The scales of justice should be balanced; the emotion of pity should not enter into any deliberation as to whether or not a criminal should be confined or granted leniency.